ID :
197778
Thu, 07/28/2011 - 07:46
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Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/197778
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Japan Develops Material to Efficiently Remove Iodine, Strontium from Water
Tokyo, July 28 (Jiji Press)--Japan's National Institute for Materials Science has developed new material that can remove iodine and strontium contained in water efficiently.
The government-affiliated organization will cooperate with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency to confirm the material's ability to work for radioisotopes as well, hoping it will be used to clean up radioactive water that will be released after decontamination work in areas around Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s <9501> crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the center of the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan.
According to the research institute based in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo, the absorbent material is based on a porous silica material developed by chief researcher Sherif El-Safty about five years ago. It has numerous holes, each of which is 10 nanometers in diameter. One nanometer is a billionth of a meter.
The institute coated the inner walls of the holes with an organic compound called TK to trap iodine and with another one called CCP to catch strontium.
The compounds can theoretically capture radioactive iodine and strontium selectively through chemical reactions, because they have similar chemical properties to their nonradioactive counterparts, officials of the institute said.
Owing to the selectiveness, their absorptive capabilities do not deteriorate even if water contains other substances such as chlorine, natrium and calcium, the officials said.
The TK-coated material changes its color after catching iodine. The trapped iodine can be taken out from the material with a back-extraction method using alkaline solution so the material can be used repeatedly, they said.
The government-affiliated organization will cooperate with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency to confirm the material's ability to work for radioisotopes as well, hoping it will be used to clean up radioactive water that will be released after decontamination work in areas around Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s <9501> crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the center of the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan.
According to the research institute based in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo, the absorbent material is based on a porous silica material developed by chief researcher Sherif El-Safty about five years ago. It has numerous holes, each of which is 10 nanometers in diameter. One nanometer is a billionth of a meter.
The institute coated the inner walls of the holes with an organic compound called TK to trap iodine and with another one called CCP to catch strontium.
The compounds can theoretically capture radioactive iodine and strontium selectively through chemical reactions, because they have similar chemical properties to their nonradioactive counterparts, officials of the institute said.
Owing to the selectiveness, their absorptive capabilities do not deteriorate even if water contains other substances such as chlorine, natrium and calcium, the officials said.
The TK-coated material changes its color after catching iodine. The trapped iodine can be taken out from the material with a back-extraction method using alkaline solution so the material can be used repeatedly, they said.
